After laying the wreath across the grave, Carri Whittenburg stayed kneeling a moment longer, gazing at the name on the stone and leaning over to brush leaves off the surface.

She didn't know the fallen serviceman, she admitted.

"That's my son's birthday, May 26th," Whittenburg explained of why the grave caught her eye at Coeur d'Alene Memorial Gardens. "It seemed kind of neat."

Though she wasn't related to the man beneath the grass, the act still had meaning. Whittenburg was a close friend of Nicholas Newby, one of Coeur d'Alene's fallen National Guardsmen, she said, and she has lingering feelings of loss and gratitude.

Expressing them at the grave of a veteran, even one she didn't know, did indeed help, she said.

"It brings them close to your heart," she said. "It's priceless, really."

The Coeur d'Alene woman was among a handful who braved the finger-numbing chill at Coeur d'Alene Memorial Gardens and Riverview Cemetery on Saturday morning to participate in Wreaths Across America. The ceremonies, held by the Civil Air Patrol, were intended to honor fallen service men and women, and prompt reminder of what those still serving are risking.

Veterans and their friends and family draped Christmas wreaths across the graves lined on the grass, some making whatever mental declarations they needed.

The same was simultaneously occurring at cemeteries across the nation, including Arlington National Cemetery where the event first occurred several years ago.

Anita Kronvall solemnly draped her arms with wreaths and lay them down gently at grave after grave.

"I don't know a soul out here. I just picked up wreaths and came out to lay them down," the Rathdrum woman said. "I have no personal favors. Everybody here served for the same purpose."

The wife of an Air Force veteran, she holds it as priority to celebrate the efforts of the armed forces, she said.

She often worries about friends serving now, she added.

"One (friend) called from the east coast yesterday. He's being shipped out," Kronvall said, shaking her head. "He doesn't know where he's going, but he's going."

Representatives of each military branch from Patriot Guard Riders also hung wreaths beside the flagpole at Coeur d'Alene Memorial Gardens.

Vietnam veteran Rodney Howard, who hung a wreath for the Navy, said the ceremony allows recognition that for some veterans is a long time coming.

"It brings up a lot of memories of men I saw killed in Vietnam, and all the KIAs that come back from Iraq and Afghanistan," Howard said. "I'm glad the new generation and the older ones who died later are getting the recognition they should be."

Davis Hill, 14, carried wreaths with steady steps alongside his fellow members of the Civil Air Patrol.

The ceremony is a chance for the Coeur d'Alene youth to honor his grandfathers, he said, both veterans.

"It means a lot," Hill said. "It really shows that I care about what they did for our country."